New Products

The company Blackmagic Design recently announced a wholesale move to
the Linux platform of its formerly Windows- and Mac OS-only products.
Linux support was added to the new Media Express 2.0, a video capture
and playback software application compatible with all Blackmagic Design
DeckLink, Multibridge and Intensity products. This new version is a major
update that adds support for direct capture and playback of DPX, AVI and
QuickTime files, as well as list-based batch capture and playback, plus
a major UI overhaul. Also adding Linux support are the DeckLinux
(video cards), Intensity (HDMI/analog editing component) and Multibridge
(external capture and playback solution) products. A free, cross-platform
SDK is included. Finally, the DeckLink Optical Fiber, which Blackmagic
calls “the world's first 10-bit SD/HD broadcast capture card with both
optical fiber SDI and regular SDI”, now has a Linux driver and SDK.
The card is designed for high-end broadcast and post-production customers
who work in large facilities needing lots of creative workstation seats
and seek to use both types of cabling.

Software development companies should take note of the new PureCM 2009-1,
a Software Configuration Management (SCM) solution that controls, tracks
and visualizes changes to digital assets. PureCM facilitates software
development in team environments, accommodating best practices, such as
task-based version control, parallel development and build automation.
One key new feature involves greater advance insight into and control
of changes that need merging. Merge conflicts also can be resolved
pre-integration using a visual resolve tool. A second key feature is
a new and simplified cross-platform GUI, allowing developers to see
on which files their colleagues are currently working within their
private workspace. They also can preview their completed changes
before integrating them automatically into the workspace. PureCM
is cross-platform for Linux, Mac OS and Windows, and it offers native
integration with Eclipse and Visual Studio.

Greening your computing experience keeps getting easier, thanks to
the efforts of companies like ASUS, whose new VH Series LCD monitors
garnered a Gold rating under the EPEAT environmental standard. The VH
series offers five models with screen sizes ranging from 20"–24".
Each model has been certified by the EPEAT organization, which evaluates
PCs based on their environmental attributes. EPEAT's standards demand
exceptional performance in areas such as reduction or elimination
of hazardous materials, design for end of life, product longevity,
resource conservation, end-of-life management, corporate performance
and packaging. Gold is EPEAT's highest rating. ASUS says that with the
VH monitor series, it perfected new manufacturing techniques to reduce
mercury and utilize post-consumer recycled plastic without affecting
product performance and reliability.

If you're laid off or stuck in a dead-end career, Andy Lester's new book
Land the Tech Job You Love from Pragmatic Bookshelf may land you a gig
that springs you out of bed each morning. The book will help techies learn the job-search techniques that
work for finding an fulfilling career. Lester claims that we techies have
a tougher time finding and winning the right job, because companies are
ever-more demanding and our competition is smart, tech-savvy and resourceful.
The reader will learn skills such as how to uncover hidden jobs that
never get publicized, perform effective social networking, craft an
effective résumé, understand the mindset of hiring managers and perform
well in interviews. The book is further peppered with real-life stories
about what works and hilarious tales of what doesn't.

Aaron Erickson's The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the World
of Technology Consulting (Addison-Wesley)

If your dream job means saying adiós to your boss and running your own
show, pick up Aaron Erickson's new book The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the
World of Technology Consulting, published by Addison-Wesley. Making a
living as a technology consultant has its pros and cons, and author
Erickson first helps readers assess whether it's their ideal
career path. Should readers decide to choose to become (or continue
as) consultants, Erickson presents a guide to success in the field.
He explains issues such as how to break into the business and build a
career path, understand the mechanics of consultancies and avoid the
traps of unscrupulous ones, master secret consulting success tips, add
more value than competitors, enhance professional development and build a
personal brand. Erickson and other battle-worn consultants also offer
the lessons they learned from years in the trenches.

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